There are lots of advantages in raising livestock for meat. Two main advantages is that you can supply your family with fresh quality meat and you can make some extra money in selling your products. But what ever your reason maybe to raising livestock the bottom line is that you have to know how to care for your livestock.
Two types of livestock that are easy to raise and produce delicious meat are rabbits and chickens. Their meat is high in demand and can being you lots of profits.
Rabbits:
When raising rabbits for meat the first thing to be considered is the breed. Rabbit breeds that are good for producing meat are Californians and New Zealands. A lot of farmers also crossbreed these two to produce quality rabbits that grow quicker and are more vigorous. The New Zealand breed takes 8 weeks to be fully grown whilst the Californians are in demand because of their boned body structures.
In order for rabbits to produce quality meat depends on the quality of feed. Rabbits in general eat all sorts of food but in order of them to produce great tasting meat they have to be feed pellets and alfalfa hay. But make sure you don’t over feed them because it can add to their body fat.
It is important to breed rabbits at the right time if you are raising them for meat. For medium rabbits the right time is between 5 to 6 months and large rabbits should be bred when they are 8 months. The rabbits should be healthy as well with the female rabbit taken to the male cage when its time to breeding.
When the doe rabbit is about to give birth you should make sure they are placed in a comfortable place. The babies should be fed a mixture of karo syrup, skim milk, bone meal, and egg yolks.
Chickens:
Chickens can be raised for various reasons. They can be raised for their droppings with make good manure, they can be raised for eggs and they can be raised for meat production.
Raising chickens for meat or eggs has a lot of advantages. One of them is that they contain nutrients. The eggs contain carbohydrates, vitamins, essential fats and proteins which help in the prevention of blood clots, strokes and heart attacks. Chicken meat on the other hand is white which means it doesn’t contain cholesterol.
Raising chickens for meat has more advantages than raising them for eggs since they mature faster meaning you will spend less in feeding them. Another reason is that with the current economic situation producing your own chicken meat can help you save a lot of money in buying meat at the same time sell it for some extra money since its high in demand.
To make sure your chickens produce quality products you have to feed them well. You can buy chicken food from your local farmers store or you can give them your leftover foods which can save you a lot of money. Make sure you also build them some shelter and fence the surroundings to protect the chickens.